On and Off - Fine Motor Skills

Since Little J has come so far in his gross motor skills, I thought it time to really focus on fine motor skills.  Patricia Winders' book, Gross Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome, has become a favorite reference book.  I checked out the companion book (by a different author), Fine Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome.  I haven't gone through the entire book yet, but realized if I just sat and watched Little J he would show me all kinds of ways he's fine tuning his fine motor skills.  One of his favorite places to hang out is in the bathroom with me while I get ready in the morning.  He loves hairspray bottles and spends most of his time playing with the bottles and caps.  Perfect for developing hand eye coordination, the concept of on/off and precision muscle movements. 

Another favorite is playing with markers.  He loves removing the caps and then putting them back on pushing so hard until it clicks or snaps in place.  This gets a little messy though.  In a perfect world I'd have a baggie of dried out markers for him to use, but I tend to be a thrower and besides who keeps dried up markers anyway.  Marker play is good for developing strength; he tends to use his entire upper body including shoulders and arm muscles.

Peg puzzles are another good fine motor skill activity, but Little J doesn't seem to like those quite so well.  Nick and Amber created a game using colored cups and bears that they play with Little J.  I'll share that later this week.